Darjeeling records new case as doctor tests +ve

Darjeeling: Darjeeling district recorded a new case with a doctor testing Covid-19 positive. 26 doctors who had travelled with the affected in the same bus from Kolkata have been quarantined in Siliguri. Incidentally on 28th March a bus carrying 27 doctors had arrived from Kolkata. These doctors are all posted in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and had been stranded in Kolkata with the lockdown. With the Eye Specialist of NBMCH testing positive, he has been sent to the Covid-19 hospital located at Dr. Chang's Nursing Home in Siliguri.

The other 26 doctors who had travelled in the same bus have been sent to quarantine in a quarantine centre located in a private Bhawan (building) near NBMCH. One of the doctors in quarantine claimed "We are all Covid-19 negative but as a precautionary measure we are in quarantine." Meanwhile, 4 persons from Kumargram, Alipurduar had tested positive. They had returned from Delhi and were in quarantine. "They are under treatment as per protocol. There are no new cases after the four tested positive on Thursday" stated Dr Puran Kumar Sharma, CMOH, Alipurduar. Dr Shushanta Roy, Officer on Special Duty, overseeing Covid-19 treatment and facilities in North Bengal visited Kalimpong District on Saturday. In Kalimpong he held a meeting with the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police and Chief Medical Officer of Health. "We are planning to open a Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) hospital in Kalimpong for CIVID-19 screening. We have reviewed the situation in Kalimpong. The district is all prepared to combat the disease. The condition of the district is good" stated Doctor Roy.

The Doctor further stated that Kiosks for collecting swab samples are being made for the Blocks. "Medical workers including nurses are being trained from block level on how to collect samples and send the same to the lab at NBMCH" stated the OSD. On Friday 782 students of North Bengal stranded in Kota, Rajasthan arrived at Siliguri. State Government had arranged for their return. After initial medical checkup they have been sent to institutional quarantine in the districts of North Bengal.

According to The Telegraph https://www.telegraphindia.com

An eye specialist posted at North Bengal Medical College and
Hospital here but staying in Calcutta has tested positive for the novel
coronavirus after returning in a bus to his workplace on April 29.

Twenty-six
other doctors and nurses of north Bengal’s only referral hospital who
had travelled with the eye specialist in a government-arranged bus from
Calcutta have been quarantined at a facility near NBMCH. A doctor, a
nurse and a clerical staff of Raiganj Government Medical College and
Hospital in North Dinajpur who had travelled with the group have also
been quarantined.

The eye specialist has been admitted to Chhangs’ Super Speciality Hospital, the designated Covid-19 hospital in Siliguri.

“On
Friday, the doctor tested positive for the novel coronavirus. We have
quarantined the 26 other doctors and nurses who had travelled with him
in the bus from Calcutta. Arrangements have been made to test their swab
samples,” said a source at NBMCH.

Authorities at the Raiganj hospital have also quarantined the three from the facility who had travelled with the group.

Sources
said a doctor in Kurseong who too had been in the bus has gone into
self-quarantine. Locals said the doctor had visited two medicine shops
in town. “Both owners have been asked to close their shops and stay in
home quarantine till the test report of the swab samples of the doctor
arrives,” a source said.

The eye specialist is the first doctor in
north Bengal to have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Earlier, two nurses had got infected. They were discharged earlier this
week.

As of now, 10 Covid-19 patients are under treatment at
Chhangs’ Super Speciality Hospital, while 13 persons suspected to have
contracted the virus are at Desun Hospital in Siliguri. In total, 38
people are at different quarantine centres of Darjeeling district.

In
Malda and Alipurduar, the two districts were cases have recently been
reported, have had no new patients in the past 48 hours.

“We have
increased the number of individual and pool tests to detect Covid-19
cases,” said Amit Dan, the superintendent of Malda Medical College and
Hospital.

Sushanta Roy, the officer on special duty in north
Bengal for Covid-29 treatment, said NBMCH doctors and paramedics would
be sent to other districts of north Bengal to impart treatment training
to colleagues there.

“At NBMCH, doctors and other health staff
have gained experience by treating a number of corona-positive patients
in the past one-and-a-half months. That is why we have decided to send
them in teams to other districts where they can apprise doctors and
others on how to handle Covid-19 patients and suspects,” Roy sad.

The other 26 doctors
who had travelled in the same bus have been sent to quarantine in a
quarantine centre located in a private Bhawan (building) near NBMCH.
One of the doctors in quarantine claimed "We are all Covid-19 negative
but as a precautionary measure we are in quarantine." Meanwhile, 4
persons from Kumargram, Alipurduar had tested positive. They had
returned from Delhi and were in quarantine. "They are under treatment as
per protocol. There are no new cases after the four tested positive on
Thursday" stated Dr Puran Kumar Sharma, CMOH, Alipurduar. Dr Shushanta
Roy, Officer on Special Duty, overseeing Covid-19 treatment and
facilities in North Bengal visited Kalimpong District on Saturday. In
Kalimpong he held a meeting with the District Magistrate, Superintendent
of Police and Chief Medical Officer of Health. "We are planning to open
a Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) hospital in Kalimpong for
CIVID-19 screening. We have reviewed the situation in Kalimpong. The
district is all prepared to combat the disease. The condition of the
district is good" stated Doctor Roy.